Human
Psychology Humans are generally driven by conflict. Their stories are centered around conflict and lack of a conflict is seen as the same thing as lack of a story. Though a number of humans espouse pacifism, it's not uncommon for a peace protest to erupt into a violent riot, leading some of the other races to assume that pacifism is simply a way for humans to get in even larger conflicts with other humans. Subtypes Cyborgs Advances in cybernetic augmentation allow grafting of machinery in with organic tissue. Though in some cases this can mean cybernetic limbs to replace missing ones, the rise of vatcloning limbs is increasingly limiting cybernetics to brain implants on people with developmental disorders in their brain tissue. While adults can and do get implants, the process goes more smoothly the younger the patient is when the augmentation is done. This is partly because the body adapts to the materials used and thefore avoids autoimmune reactions, but it is mostly due to the brain developing to interact with cybernetics. A brain that adapts to cybernetics from an early age grows substantially different than one that received implants in the adult years. The resulting cyborgs often fall into a cultural group they call "homo mechanica" that sees itself as oddballs and outcasts. They have trouble integrating into human culture having minds that are not entirely biological, and the majority of them fall on the autism spectrum. Cyborgs, especially those who received brain implants at an early age, seem to integrate with technology better than other humans. They often make excellent programmers. Many can hook up a datacable directly to a device and operate with a proficiency unmatched by any purely biological person. ''' Zoomanity The terms "zoomanity" and "zuman" were originally used as a term to mock people who got genemodded to have animal traits. But these people adopted the term as their own and took the sting out of it. Gemodding was originally developed as a way to cause animals to grow human organs. The animal could then be killed and the organs given to patients in need of transplants. As the cost dropped and the technology improved, the uses expanded from emergency life-saving measures to cosmetic changes to a person's physiology. Nowadays, a person's DNA can be modded to incorporate animal DNA. While the changes usually take months to go into effect, this is usually paired with cosmetic surgery to replace cosmetic features of the person's body with animal features, such as cat ears and claws, using vatgrown organs. While becoming a zuman is usually a means of self-expression, the modification is not merely cosmetic. Firstly, the added cosmetic features might grant enhanced senses, such as eagle eyes or a dog's sense of smell. Secondly, sometimes the genetic modification can correct old health problems or cause new ones. But the most controversial impact is the mind/body connection. Zumans begin to incorporate some of the animal psychology into their actions, becoming what's termed "bestial." Since gemodding isn't supposed to alter neurons, psychologists are divided on why this happens. Some say it's psychosomatic; if wearing a costume can change one's behavior how much more so can changing one's physical appearance? Others state that thought incorporates the entire body, not just the mind, and that changes to one's physiology change one's thought processes.